Dell's announcement yesterday morning describing competing bids from Carl Icahn and, especially Blackstone resolves almost all doubts that Silver Lake Partners and Michael Dell will have a bidding war on their hands for Dell.

Blackstone came in with a strong proposal to offer "in excess of" $14.25 per share for all of the shares, with the option for shareholders to take shares in the surviving company in lieu of the cash, subject to an unspecified cap in the number of shares that can elect equity.